A friend of mine, a senior American academic, has commented that I may be risking the ire of the anti-blood sports brigade by advocating ferret keeping. If this is true I'm sorry, not because I have upset them but because I feel pity for them. They are the people who see animals as pets and overfeed them. I see them as friends and companions, personalities in their own right. They've also missed the delights of a well made rabbit stew.... Carnivores of the world unite! I was going to go on to other tales but have decided to pull on your heart strings with the sad story of Winnie and his untimely end.
I was in the Hole in the Wall at Foulridge one evening and got into conversation with a fine looking young man, a stranger to me. It transpired that he was the new village bobby and in those far off days of proper community policing he had moved into a small house near the pub. He was a city boy but had always fancied taking an interest in field sports. It so happened that this was at a time when I had just started cattle wagon driving and was no longer free to roam in the evenings, Winnie was short of exercise and getting fat. I liked the bloke and made a decision. I told him that if he promised to run Winnie and take care of him I'd give him the ferret, the hutch and all the nets, everything he needed to get started. He was delighted, bit my hand off and a few days later Winnie was installed in his outhouse and he could handle him.
It was one of the worst decisions I ever made in my life. A few weeks later I was passing through Foulridge and popped into the back yard to see how Winnie was going on. There was nobody about so I opened the hutch and found him laid stiff and cold, as dead as a doornail. He had starved to death. I quietly shut the door on him, walked away and never said a word about it. I can't tell you how sad and angry I was but it was my own fault. I had taken the easy way to end my responsibility for Winnie and it killed him.
That's something else the anti blood sports brigade don't understand. There is something noble in keeping an animal as a companion and sharing their life. That's why I always advocate the close proximity of kids and animals and helping them to learn about the responsible bond that can develop. Farmers have this affinity with their stock even though they rear them to be killed but it is impossible to explain this, it can only be learned through experience. I've never regretted Winnie, only his end. Who knows, there might be another ferret in me even at this late stage in the game! I mean, if I can get along with Black Jack.....
The old man's current companion.